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Doctor (symbolic image): Switching from one private health insurer to another is not easy
Photo: shapecharge / Getty Images
There are many things you can do wrong when taking out private health insurance. Starting with the question of whether you should complete one at all. Continue with the company you trust and finally the tariffs and services you have chosen.
The special thing about it: In many cases it is the right or wrong decision for life.
Not a normal contract
Let's talk about the normal case for services in Germany: If you sign a contract today, you can get absolutely the right service provider with the right service for a fair price. Or you get the wrong service provider with inadequate service at an inflated price. So keep your eyes open when choosing a contract.
Choosing the wrong service provider at the wrong price can be a real hassle, perhaps an expensive hassle. But laws designed to protect consumers often limit the consequences. If the provider increases the price, you have a special right of termination and often a wide selection of other providers.
Your statutory health insurance company is also a service provider and you can change at least annually if, for example, the promised extras in the scope of services do not come. Or the additional contribution skyrockets and you have to pay a few hundred euros more per year than with better providers.
Now for the exception: the market for private health insurance is not yet ready. When choosing your insurer, you can also get the right long-term provider with the right contract and at a fair price. This means better services that are personally selected by you, more service, faster appointments with the doctor of your choice for both healthy and sick people.
But what if there are big holes in your performance that you hadn't considered or perhaps couldn't even recognize? And after a few years or decades, the provider turns out to be an extremely expensive choice and the price is no longer affordable? In this case, that means a few hundred euros more too much – every month.
Why is it difficult to change?
With private health insurance you pay too much when you are young, the money is invested in the insurance for old age. If you go to another provider, you will often not be able to take all of this money with you and you will have to start saving for retirement. A new contract with another private provider then becomes unaffordable for many.
And you would probably no longer be able to get a new contract like this because you may already have pre-existing illnesses and private health insurers no longer accept new customers with problems or even serious pre-existing illnesses. They don't have to do that according to the law.
However, it is practically impossible for you to look a few decades into the future with private service providers and also with your own health. You don't know whether the insurer's fifth board member will really drive the car into the mud after you have signed the contract with Pfefferminzia. And then you get stuck in expensive dirt. But what you can already know today: You are definitely stuck in the mud.
When is private health insurance a good idea?
Which brings us to the point. How can you find out whether private health insurance is even a good idea for you - and if so, what kind?
Quite simply: If you are or will be a civil servant, private health insurance is usually the right choice for you - from an economic point of view. Because the state pays half or more of your medical costs - even when you are a pensioner, private health insurance becomes significantly cheaper. On average, civil servants only pay half. In most cases, however, the state will not help you as a civil servant with your health insurance contributions. About half of all eight million privately insured people in Germany are civil servants, pensioners and their relatives.
The following applies to the self-employed and employees: You can only afford the high costs of private health insurance if you have a decent or high income in old age. Otherwise, you should refrain from opting for private health insurance for economic reasons. Even if you earn enough now and could afford the contract.
Why is having a lot of money particularly important? Unlike statutory health insurance, your contributions to private health insurance do not fall in old age because they are completely independent of your income. As in previous decades, they will normally continue to rise. In 2024, contributions to private health insurance are expected to rise by an average of seven percent, says the lobby association of private insurers.
What you should also know: Your family members are not insured for free, including your children. Each family member needs their own private health insurance contract, which costs extra.
Which tariff from which insurer?
Are you a civil servant or have enough money and are you determined to take out private insurance and thus possibly secure better benefits and better service?
Then two decisions have to be made. First: Which company do you want to insure yourself with? Secondly: Which specific tariff do you want to choose?
The market is too confusing for most people. This is especially true if you already have a pre-existing condition or have been to a psychologist. A broker can make an anonymous preliminary risk inquiry with numerous insurers. This means you have a much better chance of getting a (cheaper and more powerful) contract despite your pre-existing illness. That's why my Finanztip colleagues recommend using a broker.
Choosing the right company is important because you may be staying with your private health insurer for 50 years or more. Changing companies after a few years is very difficult and expensive. If you get sick in between, almost impossible. Your insurer should therefore be as financially and contractually sound as possible.
Deciding on the right tariff is important because, on the one hand, you can book exactly the services that are important to you with private health insurance - from senior doctor treatment to a private room, from dental treatment services to alternative medicine. And the insurance company can no longer get out of this promise of performance.
But if you later get the idea that you want certain additional services, this often becomes very expensive and sometimes impossible.
What's stupid is that the question of whether your plan will be particularly expensive depends not only on the economic fortunes of your chosen company and the general increases in healthcare costs, but also on who is insured with you on the same plan. If many customers with high insurance costs are insured with you on the same tariff, it can be expensive. The benefits are paid for all insured persons in the tariff from a single pot - and if the pot is not enough, the contributions increase.
These premium increases are often not transparent. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled this week that private health insurers are not obliged to fully disclose their calculations. Consumers can therefore find it difficult to understand and take action against premium increases. It is usually possible to take out a different tariff with fewer benefits from the same insurer without major complications, but this will reduce your structural protection in old age.
Finanztip looked at 49 brokers and checked their experience, market coverage, number of advisors and routine in a multi-stage process. Five brokerage houses remained that have the experience in the market and the organizational structure to be able to advise customers on the question of the right health insurance.
Using checklists and questionnaires, you can work with these brokers to find the right insurer and tariff for you.
To briefly summarize:
Only do it if you are a civil servant or if you are almost certain to be wealthy in old age.
Use a good broker to choose a solid company. Because you are tied there for a long time.
Choose the tariff with the services you really need. Unnecessary bells and whistles make private health insurance more expensive and perhaps unaffordable in old age.
Good luck!